Daily Briefing | Friday, October 7, 2011

Bank of America continues to say that it's committed to retail mortgage lending, but the megabank suffered another blow recently with the departure of one of its top loan producers in the nation, Kevin Budde of Southern California.

As the Obama Administration examines options to expedite the sale of foreclosed properties, the Federal Housing Administration is weighing a tweak to its 203(k) program, opening it once again to investors.

The GSE regulator told House Democrats at a closed door meeting that the Federal Housing Finance Agency is committed to making meaningful changes to a special program that will allow more borrowers with high LTV loans to refinance at lower mortgage rates.

Helios AMC, a commercial real estate special servicer which is sponsored by Ranieri Partners, has acquired real estate advisory firm The Situs Companies. The combined entity will retain the Situs name. The purchase price was not disclosed.

Fitch Ratings found delinquencies on loans underlying commercial mortgage-backed securities declined for the second month in a row in September as its numbers bore out what the company has identified as a trend toward improvement in the hotel sector.

The Obama Administration's efforts to expand a GSE refinancing program and reach a large number of underwater borrowers will depend on how far the Federal Housing Finance Agency will go in providing lenders relief from loan buy-backs, according to industry officials and analysts watching the effort.

Fearing that the megabanks might get off too easy in the multi-state mortgage settlement talks, Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley is preparing to file lawsuits against the nation's largest servicers for wrongfully foreclosing on customers.